Two years ago we recommended Modern Oats, a packaging concept that places elegantly-flavored, gluten-free* oatmeal in stylish grab-and-go cups.

All you have to do is add hot water to cover the oats in the coated paper cup. Put the lid back on, wait a few minutes and enjoy. No added sweetener, milk or microwave is required. The colorful designs give a boost to starting the day.

Success has enabled the brand to expand the number of flavors to 10. The lineup now includes:

Cheerful packaging adds to the enjoyment of these delicious flavored oatmeal cups. Photo courtesy Modern Oats.

Coconut Almond, one of 10 flavors. Photo courtesy Modern Oats.

MODERN OATS ARE GOOD OATS

The rolled oats in the containers are grown by family farmers in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. They are minimally processed by steaming and flaking; you look into the carton and see what looks like “real oats,” instead of the small particles familiar to consumers of instant oatmeal.

Not surprisingly, the oat flakes provide a textural differences that deliver a more solid bite (and, the company says, optimal absorption of nutrients).

Modern Oats are produced in a 100% gluten free facility and are Certified Gluten Free, Non-GMO, Halal, Kosher, Vegan and 100% Whole Grain. (Whew: There’s no more room left on the carton for any more certifications).

Bonus: Oats are the only major grain proven to help blood cholesterol†.

If you can’t find the cups locally (here’s the store locator), buy them on the Modern Oats website.

There’s a four-flavor gift-boxed set; an assortment of flavors makes a nice Easter gift for the nutritionally-focused.
 
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*To be certified gluten-free, they must be processed in a facility that does not also process grains with gluten. In the milling and processing process, oats are susceptible to cross-contamination; so not all oatmeal and other oat products are gluten free.

†Eating three grams of soluble fiber from oats each day, as part of a diet that’s low in fat and cholesterol, has been shown to lower blood cholesterol. This may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Top Chef Sylvain Harribey of the Sofitel New York shares this tip:

When you cook, don’t overcrowd the pan with the ingredients. In a packed pan, foods end up steaming rather than caramelizing. This adds cooking time and subtracts taste.

All ingredients should fit comfortably in one layer. Either use a pan that’s big enough for the job, or cook in batches as necessary.

Need more tips? Head to YouTube and search for basic cooking lessons or specific techniques.
 
SECOND TIP: USE THE RIGHT PAN

[2] February 27th is National Strawberry Day, March 21st is National California Strawberry Day, and May is National Strawberry Month (photo © California Strawberry Commission).

[3] September 28th is National Strawberry Cream Pie Day. Here’s the recipe (photo © Delicious | Australia).

[4] January 15th is National Strawberry Ice Cream Day (photo © McConnells Ice Cream).

[5] May 16th is National Strawberry Milkshake Day (photo © Arrabawn-Dairies | Facebook).

And we have lots of strawberry recipes below, from cocktails and salads to (of course) desserts. There are too many to eat in one day, so plan ahead.
 
 
STRAWBERRY HOLIDAYS

You can use all of our strawberry recipes below for these strawberry celebrations:

 
Have we forgotten one? Let us know!
 
 
RECIPE: STRAWBERRY THYME ICE CUBES

To start the celebration, here’s a fun and tasty recipe from Shari’s Berries: Strawberry Thyme Ice Cubes.

Use them in cocktails, iced tea, punch bowls, sparkling water, water pitchers, or soft drinks like Ginger Ale, 7-Up, and Fresca.

Ingredients

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*The larger the cubes, the more slowly they melt.

†The number will vary based on the size of strawberries available, and how many ice cubes you’d like to make.
 
Preparation

1. MUDDLE the strawberries with a mortar and pestle. Distribute evenly so each section of the ice cube tray is filled 2/3 with muddled berries. Each cube requires 2-3 berries.

2. FILL the ice cube sections the rest of the way with water, and top with a sprig of fresh thyme. Freeze 4-5 hours.
 
 
25+ MORE STRAWBERRY RECIPES

Beverages & Cocktails

 
Breakfast

 
Desserts

 
First Courses & Mains

 
Snacks

Top: A bottle of Trousseau wine from Stephane-Tissot.com, rated 91 by Robert Parker. Second: The seminal fanciful label from Bonnie Doon Vineyards. Follow the red line to the flying cigar. Third: Goat-Roti, punning on the Rhone wine Côte-Roti and the classic Rhone label style. Photo courtesy FancyCellar.com. Bottom: Need you ask? It’s Marilyn Merlot from Marilyn Wines. Different vintages have different photos of Marilyn.

We received a news release right after Valentine’s Day, for a red wine called Trousseau from the Jura region in eastern France. The grape variety itself is called Trousseau or Trousseau Noir, an old variety. It is grown in small amounts in Europe, with the the largest vineyards found in Portugal (it is one of the grapes blended into Port). It is now being grown in California.

Although the timing was coincidental, we thought: Valentine’s Day…wedding proposals…wine to serve at showers or weddings. Let’s suggest wines with fanciful names.

First, a bit on Trousseau:

We have no idea how the grape was named Trousseau. The original meaning of the French word means “a little bundle,” and refers to the clothes, linens and other items collected by a single woman in anticipation of marriage.

A girl and her mother would start gathering items for the daughter’s trousseau years before the anticipated event—years before she might be of the age to be courted!

In the days when most people had little extra to spare, the mother might tuck away items when she could: a set of extra bed sheets, blankets, dishes, and other items.

As disposable income grew, the wares could contain bridal items, jewelry, fine linens, china, silverware, clothing and lingerie and much more.

So: Did some vintner, centuries ago, put aside wines for his daughter? Did that wine become known as Trousseau? The record is mute—at least so far as we could research it in English.
 
HOW WINES AR NAMED

For most of their history, wines were named after the region or grape varietal: Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon, Burgundy or Pinot Noir, for example. The bottle labels followed a classic design. The name (title), contents and bottle shape were/are usually regulated by law.

Some 40 years ago, some modern vintners began using fanciful names and contemporary label designs as a marketing tool. The innovator was Randall Grahm of Bonnie Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz, California.

Graham, a maker of quality wines, became the talk of the wine world in 1984 with the release of “Le Cigare Volant” (the flying cigar), a red Southern Rhone blend. The label spoofed a classic Rhone label of a vineyard, but look closely: a large cigar (think blimp) flies over the vineyard. The brand continued with other fanciful names, including our favorite, “Thanks, Semillon.”

You may have encountered some of Grahm’s legacy: Bored Doe, Goats Do Roam and Goat-Roti from Fairview Winery in South Africa and Marilyn Merlot from Marilyn Wines in Napa Valley, and others. California’s Topolos Winery was acquired by Russian River Vineyards, which [sadly?] discontinued its popular Stu Pedasso Zinfandel. Here are more wines with names of questionable dignity.

And here’s a sampling of other whimsy: fancifully-named wines that won’t offend Grandma.

Anyone with a special event on the horizon can design their own wine label. Just do an online search, and you’ll come across them.
 
ABOUT TROUSSEAU WINE

Trousseau, which is planted in Europe, California, even Australia, is called “paradoxical”: light-bodied and pale red, but with intense aromas and a firm tannic grip. You may come across producers from the Jura in your wine store (Jacques Puffeney, Jean-François Ganevat, Michel Gahier, and André et Mireille Tissot as well as from Californi (Arnot-Roberts and Copain).

We proffer our own suggestions for wedding wine: Cloud 9 Cabernet, Just Married Merlot and Wedded Bliss Sauvignon Blanc.

Feel free to contribute your own.

If you watch Top Chef, you’ve heard the term gastrique (gas-TREEK).

While it sounds like the French word for gastric system*, it’s actually a sweet and sour sauce, similar to the Italian sauce agrodolce (agro-DOLE-chay, meaning sour [agro] and sweet [dolce]).
 
Gastrique and agrodolce have a broad use: as sauces for meat, poultry, fish, pasta sauce, vegetables—even dessert (where chocolate can be used instead of the sugar), and to flavor cocktails. They’re good pairings for dishes that are high in fat content, since the vinegar cuts the richness.
 
The sauce is made by reducing sweet and sour ingredients, typically sugar and vinegar. The sauces are very similar and the terms are often used interchangeably, but there is one key difference: With a gastrique, the sugar is first caramelized in a pan over low heat. The sticky syrup is deglazed with vinegar, and stock is added to thin the sauce.
 
Additional flavorings can be added to create a more complex sauce—often fruit and/or wine; and flavored vinegars can add still more flavor. Both the type of stock and the vinegar greatly affect the flavor of the finished sauce.

 
TYPES OF GASTRIQUE & AGRDOLCE

Duck à l’orange is a good example. But you can also use an orange sauce with sea scallops, as in this recipe from NewFinMySoup.blogspot.com. Chef Marcus Samuelsson and bloggers Smith & Ratliff among others, have a similar scallop recipe.

Just do a web search for anything you want to make, plus gastrique (e.g. “chicken gastrique”).

Also consider the classic Italian onion side and antipasto dish, Cippolini in Agrodolce. This recipe, from Williams-Sonoma, uses white and brown sugars and white wine and balsamic vinegars. In Italy, sweet peppers also get the agrodolce treatment.

Consider this elegant sweet-and-sour sauce for Asian dishes—very different from cornstarch-thickened Chinese sweet and sour sauce.

Drizzle it over steaks or chops.

Use it as a salad dressing.

The options go on forever.
 
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*In French, gastrique plus a modifying word refers to gastrointestinal matters (e.g., suc gastrique is gastric juice).

Top: Seared scallops with blood orange gastrique from Center: Rack of lamb with rhubarb-sour cherry gastrique from SpoonForkBacon.com. Here’s the recipe. Bottom: Cippollini in Agrodolce from Williams-Sonoma.